On a chilly, rain-soaked night that carried all the emotional weight of October baseball, the New York Mets battled the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers through 13 innings of missed chances, dramatic comebacks, and ultimately, a crushing 7–5 loss. In their first meeting since last year’s National League Championship Series, the Mets found themselves in a familiar place: outplayed at the end of a long and winding journey.
A game that refused to end
From the first pitch to the final out nearly six hours later, Friday night’s game at Citi Field was less a contest than a test of endurance. The 13-inning marathon, which included a 98-minute rain delay and stretched into the early morning hours, saw the Mets claw back from a three-run deficit, only to falter repeatedly with the game on the line.
Trailing 5–2 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Mets ignited hope with a rally that began with Jeff McNeil’s two-run triple. Tyrone Taylor followed with a clutch game-tying single, pulling the Mets even and electrifying the sparse, shivering crowd. But the potential for a walk-off win faded quickly. Luisangel Acuña struck out with the winning run on third, and the Mets’ fortunes began to unravel.
Opportunities lost in the extras
What followed was a sequence of missed chances that will haunt the Mets for weeks. In the 10th, Juan Soto — struggling through a rough stretch at the plate — walked but failed to deliver in a walk-off moment, going 0-for-5 on the night. Pete Alonso sent a deep fly to center that had just enough hang time to be caught, extending his home run drought to 15 games, tied for the longest of his career.
The 11th and 12th innings brought more frustration. With the bases loaded and no outs, Acuña grounded out on a 3–0 count. Moments later, Luis Torrens grounded into an inning-ending double play, the type of backbreaker that can sap a team’s spirit. Even with runners constantly in scoring position, the Mets couldn’t find that final spark.
Dodgers capitalize, mets collapse
Manager Carlos Mendoza turned to Reed Garrett to keep the Dodgers at bay, and for two innings, he delivered. But the dam finally broke in the 13th when Huascar Brazobán gave up a run-scoring double to Teoscar Hernández, followed by a sacrifice fly from Andy Pages. With the Dodgers up by two and the Mets running out of emotional fuel, it was Francisco Alvarez who ended the night, making his fifth out of the game with a weak at-bat at 12:56 a.m.
“We didn’t get the last one,” Mendoza admitted postgame. “We had traffic and we kept putting the ball on the ground. They executed pitches and we didn’t make adjustments.” For a team that played hard and rallied late, it was a crushing ending. Jeff McNeil echoed the sentiment: “We didn’t get it done. It’s tough.”
The weight of recent struggles
Friday’s loss was not an isolated stumble but part of a larger trend. The Mets, now 30–21, have dropped six of their last eight games. Injuries, inconsistency, and underperformance from key players have begun to define a once-promising season. Juan Soto’s ongoing slump (.236 average) and Alonso’s extended power outage are casting long shadows over the team’s offensive production.
Francisco Alvarez, who has just two hits in his last 25 at-bats, is another concern. The lineup, once feared for its depth, now struggles to string together timely hits. As the Mets continue to fight for footing in a stacked National League, these missed moments begin to feel more consequential.
Rain, rulings and resilience
Before the extra-innings heartbreak, the game had already provided its share of bizarre twists. A rain delay knocked out starter Griffin Canning after just 2 ²/₃ innings, though he was still tagged with three runs. The Dodgers took an early 3–0 lead, helped by a sharp grounder past Brett Baty and an infield single by Will Smith.
Baty later hit his sixth home run of the year, part of a personal surge that has seen him go deep five times in 12 games. The Mets briefly caught a break in the fourth, when Starling Marte’s aggressive base running — and an obstruction call on Max Muncy — gifted them a crucial run. It was the kind of chaotic, seesaw affair that can only exist in baseball’s most dramatic corners.
A night that felt like October
As chants of “Let’s go Dodgers” echoed through Citi Field, the Mets fought like a team trying to erase recent history. They nearly did. But in the end, baseball proved cruel — as it often does in October, and now, in May.
This was not just a loss. It was a sobering reminder of the fine line between contender and pretender, between guts and glory. On a cold, wet night in Queens, the Mets gave everything — and walked away with nothing.
